Texas Tidbits: This Ain't Your Baby's Rattler

Born Pissed Off

Sunday mornings. A lazy kind of morning sipping on coffee, having a good breakfast while reading the newspaper then getting ready for Church. The preceding statement is true for tens of millions of households across the country this morning. When I was a kid, Sunday mornings were like that. After Church we'd all pile in to my Dad's '63 Impala Super Sport (327 cubes, 300 horses, 4-speed and factory duals....sweet car!) for a Sunday Drive out to the country. FYI, "the country" at that time was anywhere not in Dallas or Fort Worth. Most of the time, we didn't have a particular destination in mind, it was just where ever Dad felt like going. It didn't matter much to me where we ended up, I knew somewhere along the way we'd see something really cool. I think that may be where I got my itch to explore. I still explore when I go fishing or even if Heather, the girls and I take our own Sunday Drive, I, like my Dad before me, just go. It's really not about the destination, it's about the journey. Exploring. Discovering.

One of the neatest things we did on one of our Sunday Drives was to head out to Sweetwater for the Annual Rattlesnake Roundup. many of you are not familiar with that, so I found a short video that gives you an idea of what the event is like.

As a little boy of maybe seven, the rattlesnake Roundup was beyond neat. It was cool. I thought the guy in the pen with all those live rattlers surrounding him, was the bravest man I'd ever seen. Now days, I know that he was just a dumbass. Or drunk. Or both.

The Rattlesnake Roundup is held the second weekend in March every year in Sweetwater at the Nolan County Coliseum. There is more to the Roundup as you'll see when you, like a BBQ Cooking Contest and other stuff, when you click here.  The Sweetwtaer Jaycees oversee this event each year like they have since 1958. You can contact them at (325) 235-8938.

It's a nice easy drive to Sweetwater form D/FW on I-20 West and it doesn't take long to get there. If you get a chance, please go see this thing in person. It's a cool event.